CONSTRAINT EFFECTS ON FRACTURE BEHAVIOR: I) THE EFFECT OF CRACK DEPTH (A) AND CRACK-DEPTH TO WIDTH RATIO (A/W) ON THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF A533-B STEEL ; II) AN ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT (To Purchase Call 1-800-854-7179 USA/Canada or 303-397
The work consisted of three investigations@ which are presented in this WRC Bulletin. All three studies dealt with the effect of crack depth (a) and crack depth-to-width ratio (a/W) on the fracture toughness of structural and pressure vessel steels. Low-constraint geometries led to a significant increase in fracture toughness of laboratory test specimens. This behavior has been verified both experimentally and analytically. Methods such as incorporating shallow flaw results into design curves or using the Dodds-Anderson Constraint Correction Method to predict the increase in toughness for actual structures appear to be feasible. The results of this study strongly suggest that the actual constraint found in very large test specimens and possibly structures may result in larger toughness values than would be expected on the basis of existing high-constraint laboratory test specimens. Publication of this document - WRC Bulletin No. 418 was sponsored by the Pressure Vessel Research Council of the Welding Research Council@ Inc.